Author's Note: Short update with a crappy title. Sorry in advance. *hides*
Disclaimer: I do not own Rise of the Guardians, How to Train Your Dragon or Portal/Portal 2.
Hypothesis
Chapter 16: Coupling
The moment Jack was pulled to safety, he dropped his portal gun and lunged at Hiccup, crushing him in a tight hug. "You – you –"
"Missed you too, Jack," Hiccup said softly, returning the heartfelt embrace with equal vigor.
Seeing each other, touching each other once again was all it took for the tears to stream down their cheeks as they laughed and cried with happiness. Neither of them wanted to let go, and it was only due to MIM's incessant remarks ruining the mood that they finally pulled away from each other.
"She sounds familiar…" Hiccup poked at the potato mounted on Jack's portal gun curiously. "Who –?"
"That's MIM. She was the one who designed the tests, and she's the AI in charge of the facility. Well, not anymore, but it's a long story…" Jack's eyes widened as he remembered something, and turned to glare at MIM accusingly. "Wait a second – back when I first confronted you, you told me Hiccup was dead!"
:: Of course I did. Why would I give you hope when I was about to destroy you? ::
Shaking his head, Jack rolled his eyes and sighed. "How did you survive?" he asked Hiccup, eyeing the band of blue cloth wrapped around his arm, proof that he was the real deal.
"There was some sort of observation deck near the top of the burning room, and luckily for me the walls could still conduct portals. I nearly got burnt getting up there, but I found a door and escaped through it," Hiccup recounted, reaching out to grasp Jack's hand as he remembered the sheer terror of getting separated and nearly roasted alive. "I didn't know where to go from there, so I just wandered around. I found a pod just like the one we woke up in, and I climbed in to rest for a bit. Next thing I knew, I wake up underground in the sewers with the place almost falling apart on me. I didn't know how I ended up there or how long I'd been sleeping, so I thought I'd start making my way up to the surface to find out what was going on."
"But how did you wake up?" Jack frowned in confusion. "The only reason I did was because Pitch – I'll tell you who he is later – needed me to take out MIM and install him as the main core."
:: When I regained control of the facility after you reactivated me, I found Green hibernating in one of the cyro-chambers. I had more important things to do than dispose of him at the moment, so I sent his pod to the lower levels to be taken care of later. The testing data indicated that the both of you had worked well together, so I overrode the system to wake him up before Pitch ejected me. ::
Hiccup visibly brightened at the news. "So you're the one who brought me back then," he smiled at the AI. "Thank you."
:: Don't thank me yet. We still have work to do before we're in the clear. ::
Nodding determinedly at each other, Jack and Hiccup resumed the climb. Side by side, they slowly made their way towards the door, using every opportunity to reach out and give the other a helping hand up, just like old times. It was like there was this desperate need to reassure themselves that the other was really there beside them, to feel the warm, solid grasp of their partner's hands to know that they were there, that they were a team again.
When they finally reached the exit, they found themselves on a dimly lit floor with a tall staircase at the other side. Hiccup started to walk towards it, pulling Jack along by their joined hands, but the other teen tugged him back.
"Jack?" he asked, frowning in concern at the troubled look on his partner's face. He yelped in surprise when Jack moved forward and hugged him again, and he could feel his body shaking slightly as he wrapped his arms around him. Their portal guns clattered carelessly to the ground, forgotten.
"I'm sorry," Jack murmured into the brunet's shoulder, squeezing a little tighter.
"What for?"
"It's all my fault. You nearly died because of me –"
Hiccup turned and cupped Jack's face before silencing him with a kiss. It didn't take long for Jack to respond, and soon they both lost themselves to the feel of the other's lips against their own, savoring the moments that had been lost to them. With great effort, Hiccup broke the kiss and leaned his forehead against Jack's, gazing deeply into his eyes. "Listen to me. It's not your fault, okay? I did it for you, I chose to save you, and I'd gladly do it a thousand times over."
"But –"
"If anything, I should be the one apologizing," Hiccup sighed regretfully, giving Jack a rueful peck on the lips. "You had to go through so much without me. I can't imagine how hard that must have been. I'm sorry for leaving you alone. I'm sorry for breaking our promise."
Exhaling shakily, Jack moved to hug the brunet again, breathing in his scent. It had been far too long without the other teen by his side, and even now it was hard to believe that he was here with him. He couldn't get enough of holding him, if only to reassure himself that Hiccup was real, that he wasn't dreaming of false hope this time. "I'm so glad you're alive…"
Tilting his head to kiss Jack, Hiccup pulled at his waist and backed up until he hit one of the tall pillars on the floor. Abandoning all thoughts of their current mission, the two proceeded to reacquaint themselves with each other all over again, intent on making up for lost time.
:: You two are disgusting. At least face me the other way before you – [BZZZT!] ::
Author's Note: There are about four more chapters left to go after this :)